Bad Names for Towns: Funny American Place Names

Updated on October 27, 2016

Welcome to a gigantic compendium of funny American place names. It's a long road ahead. | Source

Weird and Funny Place Names

First, an advance warning to all past, present, and future residents of the many great American towns and cities that happen to bear unusual names: know that your fair city will be ever-so-gently mocked below.

Know that this is nothing personal: the unfortunate place name is not your fault. That's even if — in a hypothetical case — your great-great-grandmother had been the one to lobby to christen your town Boozin-Snoozin Alley. Know that had she had her way, she would have gifted generations of travelers and mapmakers with innumerable good giggles. Alas, she didn't, and there is no town with that name in the United States.

But there are still many other funny American place names for us to enjoy. So let us now freely honor the many pioneers, entrepreneurs, explorers and scoundrels who did, in fact, manage to grace their towns and cities (and roadsides and hamlets) with names worthy of a second look, a smile and a smirk.

One invaluable catalog of American places is the U.S. Census Bureau, which tracks the names of the largest cities and the tiniest communities. Place names are updated by the Bureau every decade.

For the detail-oriented: note that not all of the place names referenced here are actual cities. Some are tiny towns, while others are just smallish places — called census-designated communities — with no stoplight or mayor required.

A swift glance at the list shows that American place names — including the odd ones — fall into one of the following major categories.

Painfully Obvious Place Names

If you visit White Sands in New Mexico, you'll see that the name is accurate. You'll also see signs for Truth or Consequences and Elephant Butte up Highway 85. | Source

This town is named for a natural formation, not an escaped circus animal.

{"lat":33.18972,"lng":-107.222778,"zoom":13,"mapType":"HYBRID","markers":[{"id":16562,"lat":"33.189720","lng":"-107.222778","name":"Elephant Butte","address":"Elephant Butte, NM 87901, USA","description":"This town is named for a natural formation, not an escaped circus animal."}]}

What Do American Place Names Taste Like?

Taste

Number of places so named

Example

Bitter

2

Bitter Springs, Arizona

Sweet

13

Sweet Home, Arkansas

Sour

2

Sour Lake, Texas

Salty

16

Salt Lake City, Utah

Spicy

1

Spiceland, Indiana

Hot Beverage Place Names

Beverage

Number of places named for it

Coffee

7

Tea

1

What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get Place Names

Some place names are very matter-of-fact about natural surroundings. There's Twin Lakes (in six states), Three Lakes (in two states) and even Mosquito Lake (just in Alaska.)

Dinosaur, Colorado also falls into this what-you-see-is-what-you get category. It really is a place where dinosaurs (fossils, at least) can be found.

Sometimes, American place names draw on natural features that aren't merely seen with the eyes, but also perceived by the nose and the tongue. Maybe the well water tasted like diluted candy. (Result: Sweetwater.) Maybe something in the air smelled like rotten eggs. (Result: White Suphur Springs.)

It's interesting to note that Americans have named many towns after tastes they prefer in their diets. Americans are obviously inspired by sugar and salt, but have little regard for spiciness. There's only one Spiceland (Indiana) amid many sweet-somethings. Salt tops sugar in popularity, though, especially if you count towns named Saline or Salineville (six of them) or Salinas (just one in California.)

Reality-inspired place naming will only get a nod as truly odd when the local feature in question, say a rock outcropping shaped like a pachyderm, leads to a name like Elephant Butte. (That's in New Mexico, and, yes, it definitely rates as a funny American place name.)

One-Word Place Names

Some of the most unusual American place names come from the choice of a single, simple, surprising, descriptive word. Examples include: Chicken (Alaska), Tombstone (Arizona), Airport (California) and Volcano (Hawaii). A place called Beach makes the list of funny names simply because it is in North Dakota.

And then there's Stamps (Arkansas). Any good philatelist ought to want to call that place home.

A theme in one-word names seems to be brains, as in Brilliant (in both Alabama and Ohio.) There are other towns called Clever, Bright and Smartsville. (Those are in Missouri, Indiana and California, respectively.)

My favorite one-word place name is Peculiar. (That's in Missouri.) But it's a close tie with Why, Arizona.

Where Is Paradise? Why Is It in Oklahoma?

Only one of 15 American places named Paradise is in Hawaii. | Source

Places Named After Pleasant, Happy Things

"Heavenly" word

Number of places named for it

Eden

17

Paradise

15

Heaven

1

Avalon

5

Bliss

5

Happy

6

Utopia

1

Promised Land

1

Places Named After Unhappy, Miserable Things

"Hellish" word

Number of places named for it

Bad

1

Mud (or muddy)

4

Snake

1

Mosquito

1

Devil

5

Hell

0

Crooked

3

Names That Aspire to Place Heaven on Earth

Optimism is required when naming a place. You have to at least assume the community being named will stick around long enough to appreciate the effort and actually use the name. But there's a special, intense kind of optimism — likely mixed with some hubris and scheming boosterism — that leads people to name a town after the Garden of Eden.

Using only place names as evidence, it would seem that Americans are full of this particular kind of optimism. Towns named Eden and Avalon abound. And 15 different places claim to be some sort of paradise. There are contenders in a variety of states from Hawaii to Kansas, but places in California are the most brazen in making the claim. In that state alone, there's Paradise (a town), Paradise (a designated place) and Paradise Park (another designated place).

The namers of American places have even gone so far as to place heaven on earth. (That's Swede Heaven, Washington.) No town has been named after hell.

All this optimism makes Americans a little squeamish about broadcasting the truth of a place in its name. That may be why no place is called Often-Smelly-Flood-Prone Town. On occasion, though, especially out west, the truth of snakes and mosquitoes and other rough edges creep into the place names. Weedpatch (California) may indeed be a bad name for a town, but the name is fun and funny.

Places Named for Local Resources or Products

Names to Praise the Almighty (Dollar)

This may be my favorite category: the place names that humorlessly celebrate capitalism in all its glory.

There are numerous cities with names that advertise their supposed wealth in coal, lumber, wheat, corn, raisins and prunes. That's not to mention the many all-purpose towns named Enterprise (all 10 of them) and the much rarer towns named Success (only two of them.)

But remember that paradise-seeking optimism? The Successes may be few and far between, despite all those Industries, but no town has been named Poverty. And for all the towns named Dollar, not one has been named Cents.

No city has been named Broke or Busted. Instead, there's a town called Cash in Arkansas.

No cities have been named Generosity or Savings. There's only a Tightwad (Missouri). No town in named Greed, yet there are plenty of place names that seem eager to flaunt wealth and status. One gem in this vein is Aristocrat Ranchettes (a census-designated place in Colorado).

So how does wealth accumulate, possibly leading to life in one of the 11 places named after some variation of Country Club? American place names give quite a bit of credit to luck. The town of Lucky is in Louisiana, while Jackpot is in Nevada, of course. There are also seven places named Bonanza.

No town is named Hard Work.

Misleading Place Names

High Point, Florida should lead any list of misleading place names. The simple fact is that very little of Florida pokes up much above sea level. And High Point isn't even the highest point in the state. (That's Britton Hill, elevation 345 feet —﻿ barely topping the torch on the Statue of Liberty.)

Misleading names abound elsewhere. For instance, I would guess that Sublimity (Oregon) and Blessing (Texas) fail to live up their names from time to time. Most likely, so does Promised Land in South Carolina.

This waterfront town is one of many places named Venice in the United States.

{"lat":27.099777,"lng":-82.454262,"zoom":13,"mapType":"HYBRID","markers":[{"id":16560,"lat":"27.099777","lng":"-82.454262","name":"Venice","address":"Venice, FL, USA","description":"This waterfront town is one of many places named Venice in the United States."}]}

Pop. 101, but a Name Fit for a Metropolis

This category of place names might be better called delusions — or confusions — of grandeur.

The United States was apparently founded by men and women with overriding desires to copy foreign place names. The evidence: Paris is a place name in many states (including Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri) and that's not counting places named New Paris and South Paris.

Venice is found in Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska and Illinois, while Berlin is found in Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey and North Dakota. There's a Cairo in Georgia and six other states, and the name Baghdad is echoed in the communities of Bagdad, Arizona and Bagdad, Florida.

Some of these big names grace very tiny places. (See Misleading Place Names, above.)

Towns and cities only make the funny places list when they are named for an especially odd foreign place. (Babylon, New York made the list.)

Incredibly Unimaginative Place Names

Unfortunately, the vast majority of United States place names tend toward the bland: take Greenwood, Delaware.

In fact, in the entire state of Delaware is made up of so many blandly named places that the state does not even make an appearance on the following list of funny American place names. Even a state like Connecticut has Hazardville. (Missouri and Virginia win points here for refusing to skirt the boring place names issue: each has a place named Bland.)

Cities that were named after people also tend to be unimaginatively named. There should have been a limit on the number Smithfields and Smithlands allowed.

Sure, some people do have funny-sounding names, and some of those funny-sounding names have been attached to towns, but it's a little low call Lumpkin (as in Lumpkin, Georgia) a funny-sounding place name. There really was someone named Lumpkin, and there probably still is. Now, perhaps, if the town founders had added a little something extra to the name —﻿ say, Lumpkin's Hump —﻿ then it might have made this list. But they didn't.

With boring names, though, at least the people living in those places didn't completely waste the naming opportunity. There's no good excuse for No Name, Colorado.

Funny American Place Names: The Ultimate List

Something about the landscape of the Southwest seems to inspire adventurous place naming. Arizona has everything from Carefree to Six Shooter Canyon. | Source

No American city is named Alligator, but just a little north of where these reptiles live, there's a town with a great name: Yeehaw Junction, Florida.

Scenery near Furnace Creek, California, in Death Valley National Park. | Source

Utah

Virginia

Washinton

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Bar Nunn, Reliance, Story, Ten Sleep

New York, the home of Wall Street, is also home to places called Speculator and Deposit. (Those are upstate.) | Source

Nice List, But...

Maybe you know of an amazingly named town that was overlooked here. Maybe you know the real story behind how such-and-such town got its name and would like to enlighten us all. Or maybe the place names in your part of the world simply put these weak American names to shame.

Comments 72 comments

Great story. I enjoyed this. Some of those funny names in Oklahoma were also named after people like Hooker and Sour John. One you can add to your list of odd names for Oklahoma is Slapout. It is because it was in the middle of no where and they were slap out of everything.

E. A. Wright 5 years ago from New York City Author

Slapout! That's a great name. It isn't listed in the 2010 Census U.S. Gazetteer of places, but you're right, it exists. Maybe when a town is running so low on everything else, it can run slap out of people, too?

Simone Smith 5 years ago from San Francisco

This is a masterpiece! Hahaa, I love each and every one of these names. How great it would be to be able to call Tightwad home! Or to live in Coward! Or Humansville! Or Country Club!! Hahaa. Thanks for all of the chuckles. Voted up, funny, and awesome!

MarloByDesign 5 years ago from United States

Excellent quality Hub!

E. A. Wright 5 years ago from New York City Author

Thanks, Marlo!

Charlu 5 years ago from Florida

Great hub I live in between Frostproof and Yeehaw Junction who finally replaced the only 4 way stop sign with their first light not to long ago, Yeeeehaw. Funny up and awesome. Thanks

sagebrush_mama 5 years ago from The Shadow of Death Valley...Snow Covered Mountain Views Abound!

What a great hub! This is a fun look at unusual names of places! Love it!

Stephanie Henkel 5 years ago from USA

Great Hub! I've always thought it would be fun to collect unusual place names, and you've done a great job of it. One that I don't think is on your list is Surprise, Arizona - I always wondered how that came about.

akirchner 5 years ago from Central Oregon

I always want to move to Boring, Oregon....great hub and congrats on your win!

E. A. Wright 5 years ago from New York City Author

Thanks, Simone and Sagebrush.

@ Charlu: It's interesting to hear that Yeehaw Junction has a stoplight now. When I last passed through there, it seemed there were more road signs pointing the way to the junction than there were people actually living there.

E. A. Wright 5 years ago from New York City Author

@ Stephanie: Surprise is a good one. There's also a Surprise in Nebraska, so it's not as unique as some place names. Still, Arizona is such treasure trove of funny names. I probably should have included Wagon Wheel, Top-of-the-World and Wet Camp Village on the list, too. Guess I was just overwhelmed by the weirdness of Why.

BlissfulWriter 5 years ago

That's awesome. Nice find. I like the quiz too.

stephhicks68 5 years ago from Bend, Oregon

Love this hub!! I'm with akirchner regarding "Boring" Oregon. But there is also Drain, Oregon. Really? Who wants to live in Drain? Rated up and funny! Thanks for the entertainment!

Peggy W 5 years ago from Houston, Texas

Great collection of unusual/funny names for towns. As a child I grew up in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The old lore told back then (joke?) was that an Indian was walking and just had to stop..."I can no more walk"...and that became the name of the town. Probably not true...but funny none-the-less. Congrats on your win!

E. A. Wright 5 years ago from New York City Author

@ akirchner: Boring, like Slapout, isn't on the Census list of places that I used as a source. But it's a fun name. Look out, though: if YOU move there, they might have to rename the place.

@ Blissful: Glad you liked the quiz.

@ stephhicks: Oh yes, Drain is real. It is on Highway 99, south of Eugene.

Simone Smith 5 years ago from San Francisco

Ooooooh, congrats, E. A. Wright! This Hub won the Day 26 Staff Pick prize of the So You Think You Can Write Online contest!

meli 5 years ago

How well documented! And very well organized. Wonderful writing.

Congrats on being a contest winner too. You deserve it!

Michael Willis 5 years ago from Arkansas

In the Odd Names list, I was raised in Delight and my family is all still there. It is famously known for the Country Singer Glen Campbell. [uh-hum...well I guess I can say that being on HubPages now!)

The story behind the name is the Indians were going down the Wolf Creek and thought the place they landed was such a "Delightful Place," thus the name Delight.

cwarden 5 years ago from USA

Congratulations! This is a really fun hub!

E. A. Wright 5 years ago from New York City Author

@ Peggy and Michael: Interesting stories, both. Thanks for adding a bit more to the lore about place names.

@ meli and cwarden: Thanks!

melbel 5 years ago from New Buffalo, Michigan

There is actually a Hell, Michigan although you list that there are no places in the US called Hell. Awesome hub, though!

Leighsue 5 years ago

Love some of these names. It makes you wonder what people were thinking when they used these names.

dearabbysmom 5 years ago from Indiana

Love it! I've always wanted to do a "weird town name" trip. Two more for Indiana: Gas City and Floyds Knobs. Don't think I could look Floyd in the eye!

Om Paramapoonya 5 years ago

Very interesting. Your hub made me smile. Here in northern California, there's a town called "Vacaville," which means "cow town."

E. A. Wright 5 years ago from New York City Author

@ Om: Hah, yes. "Vaca" is Spanish for cow. Vacaville and Cowlic would make great sister towns.

@ melbel: Thanks for noting the existence of Hell. It's a pity that the Census list ignores unincorporated Hell and only lists nearby Pinckney. It's astonishing to think how long (and fun) a list of weird place names would be if it were to include the names of roads, rivers, mountain peaks and neighborhoods, too. There would be many Hell Creeks on that list!

@ Leighsue and dear: Thanks, and yes, it's fun to wonder what in the world some town founders were thinking.

And especially the fact if starting in Virginville you must go through Intercourse in order to get to Climax, and if you get lost after that you may find yourself in Blue Ball.

It's the local pun that the amish in the area who named these towns dont think is very funny (all Lancaster county)

PetEtc 5 years ago

I love reading this HUB it was funny as well as informative and educational. Well done!It has started a great discussion here at home.

Ruby H Rose 5 years ago from Northwest Washington on an Island

wow, very good information, love it. Congratulations.

Elrascal 5 years ago

Haha great hub. Couldn't stop laughing. Here in New Zealand we have some great Maori place names that sound rude in english. Such as waikikamukau (pronounced Why kick a moo cow.) Or how about whakapapa (pronounced F**k a papa.) or uretiti (proounced you're a tity.) Or whaipu (pronounced Why POO).

seekingmeme 5 years ago from North Carolina

I'm still giggling at this Hub! Nice job! When you write version 2.0, don't forget to include my favorite funny town in my home state - Finger, NC!

Sweetsusieg 5 years ago from Michigan

There is a Hell, Michigan... It's not too far from Climax, Michigan... Yes, they both exist!! I'm so glad I don't come from Big Bone Lick, OH!!!

Terrific Hub!! Thumbs up to you!

Morgan Lefaye 5 years ago

Terrific Hub!! interesting and one to share, I would like to add one.. and I think someone beat me to it.. but I lived for 2 yrs In Hell.. Michigan that is.. yes its close to Climax Michigan hahaha.. and here in NC is a little town called don't laugh Horneytown....

Niki Hampton 5 years ago from Oregon

How, oh, how could you miss Boring, Oregon?! lol I live in Oregon and only a few miles from Drain (and the town really is). My grandparents live in T or C, NM and it was actually named after a game show that was there. A little fun nugget.

Also didn't see a section on animals. There's sure to be some good ones there. You got me looking through a list of the town names in my state :)

mindi 5 years ago

youngguy creak nsw australia

DaNoblest 5 years ago from California

Zzyzx Road in California is the winner of weird names for me.

beaker444 5 years ago

Hell, Michigan is a real place. So hell really does freeze over, well in the winter at least.

Esmeowl12 5 years ago

What a great hub. Very interesting and well-researched.

TLMinut 5 years ago

I've seen Zzyzx Road! We traveled a lot when I was growing up so I've seen many of these towns. The thing that got me was when I saw street names named after the alphabet - not so strange, right? Except these were

Y 3/4 Avenue, B 1/2 Road, and X 7/8 Street!

breathe2travel 5 years ago from Gulf Coast, USA

Enjoyable read! voted up & funny. :)

DzyMsLizzy 5 years ago from Oakley, CA

Loved this!! We drove all over on vacations when I was a kid, and always wrote down names that struck us funny.

There is a town called Drain in Oregon; and if you count in California's ghost towns, there is a Volcano here as well as in HI, and among others that probably no longer exist from the gold rush days are: You Bet; Rough & Ready; Red Dog and Timbuctoo--yes, there really was such a place, not just in the kid's book. ;-)

Oh, and there is also Needles, CA--a real live town...out in the desert just west of the Nevada border. It gets bloody hot there, so hot that the pundits have proclaimed that Needles is just 1/4 mile from Hell. ;-)

And street names, out in the rural areas: "Road 120-B" Seriously? No better imagination than that??????!!!!

Many years back, when my dad was working at the airline, they had to send for some parts to a place in New Jersey, whose address was on "Skunk's Misery Road." Wow! Don't think I wanna go there!!

This was a great read! Voted up & funny!

michifus 5 years ago

Excellent hub! - Did you know there is a place called *ucking in Germany. Apparently everyone tries to steal the *ucking signs, with the British wanting to buy all their *ucking postcards. The asterisk is an F by the way, I didn't want to lower the tone of your hub! I have a friend who lives in Turnham Green in the UK, which is a great name!

Lady Wordsmith 5 years ago from Lancaster, UK

This hub is wonderful. It must have taken you quite a while to pull it all together. It was such a refreshing read, I enjoyed it so much :)

I thought I'd heard of some quirky place names here in the UK, but they're nothing compared to the places on your list. Wonderful. I enjoyed the fact that I felt like I was on a whirlwind tour of the States, and just had a little glimpse into the vast and varied landscapes and cityscapes and cultures and histories. Thanks for writing this - I'm bookmarking!

Linda.

carolinemoon 5 years ago

Very nice pic. Great hub.

ahbless 5 years ago

Wouldn't a name be considered good, weired or bad according to the person? Whoever named a place had some reason in his or her mind why it was named such.

novascotiamiss 5 years ago from Nova Scotia, Canada

Hey, you've got so many comments, I could hardly find the end... Congratulations, great hub. We've been to a few of these places during our travels. One of the most intriguing was Chicken Alaska. If you are interested in seeing a picture of Chicken, you'll find it on my hub

There is a Hell, Michigan. It's about 20 miles northwest of Detroit. I've been there. The main industry in town appears to be selling knick knacks that say "Go to Hell (Michigan)" or I've been to Hell Michigan) and back" or other such nonsense.

Michigander 5 years ago

there is a town named after HELL it's in southern Michigan

Paul Chernoch 4 years ago

How about Mahwah, New Jersey? Sounds like the sound that adults make in the Peanuts cartoons.

And don't forget Blandford, MA. But my favorite is Lake Webster, MA, whose full name is:

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. Top that.

Loray the rookie 4 years ago

the baseball pitcher Bill Voiselle was born in ninety-six SC.

guess what number jersey he wore.

Marty 4 years ago

No. There's a North Pole, Minnesota, too.

Albuquerque Sue 4 years ago

Tucumcari, New Mexico, a town in the east central part of the state was originally named "Six Shooter Siding". The present name comes from an Apache legend about a brave named Tocom who took the daughter of an Apache Chief for his wife. Her name was Kari.

I don't know if anyone mentioned Lottawatta, Iowa (sp.) and Tucumcary, New mexico. Again not sure if I spelled them right but they are kinda funny.

Txmudlogr 4 years ago

You all forgot Dime Box, Cheapside, Hyman, Big Spring (there's no Spring there), Silver and for the simple fact that it was a clerical error Iatan - all in Texas. Iatan was originally supposed to be Satan Flats, but do to a clerical error when the name and information was filled with the county court house was instead named Iatan Flats and later shortened to Iatan.

Txmudlogr 4 years ago

Forgot to mention Bowbells and North Portal North Dakota and Plentywood, Scoobey, and Whitefish Montana....

Txmudlogr 4 years ago

Haha and Wibaux, Montana, pronounced Wee-bow, for the simple fact that its spelled funny for an area full of Native Americans, Sweds, Norwegians and Danes.

slowlane 4 years ago

There's also a Boring, Maryland (suburb near Reisterstown).

Did you hear about the football championship game called the "TIDY BOWL". It's played at Shea Stadium in FLUSHING, Queens, NY.

Great Blog. Some of my family actually came from Accident, Maryland. And I've been to Hungry Horse, Montana (just last year). It's only about 15 minutes away from the western entrance to Glacier National Park and while it's a funny name for a town, it is really beautiful there.

JessBraz 3 years ago from Canada

Ha! I loved the originality of this hub! Such a wonderful and fun idea and you put it together so well.. I loved the tables you placed at the side of the hubs. Very well organized and thought out! Great job! :)

My personal favorite on the list I Bonanza, Arkansas- just because I think it's fun to say.. Bonanza, Arkansas! lol... I'm from Canada, and this hub made me think of any funny city names in Canada... The only two I can think of off the top of my head is Medicine Hat and Balzac- (yeah! BALZAC.. lol) both of which are in Alberta..

Cheers to you for the great hub!

Jess.

Rae Saylor 3 years ago from Australia

YOU JUST TOOK AWESOME HUB TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL! Thanks heaps for compiling this list :) Voted up!